Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New $1.07 Million Investment in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of ESAB by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of ESAB by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in ESAB in the 3rd quarter worth about $278,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in ESAB by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of ESAB by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ESAB from $135.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ESAB in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded ESAB from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $122.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on ESAB from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.14.

ESAB Stock Up 3.7 %

ESAB stock opened at $120.21 on Friday. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $135.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $122.43 and a 200 day moving average of $118.18.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.43 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 9.66%. On average, research analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.41%.

About ESAB

ESAB Corporation engages in the formulation, development, manufacture, and supply of consumable products and equipment for use in cutting, joining, automated welding, and gas control equipment. Its comprehensive range of welding consumables includes electrodes, cored and solid wires, and fluxes using a range of specialty and other materials; and cutting consumables comprising electrodes, nozzles, shields, and tips.